Drilling spot welds on hinge post, any tips.

[herman maire]

I am trying to get the hinge post removed from a donor panel.... in the process of trying to drill out/ remove the millions of tiny spot welds on the panel I am pretty much destroying the donor panel .

is there any tricks to removing a hinge post? It also appears to be welded with lead at the top of the hinge post near the windshield corner.

Any tips appreciated.

Thanks

[herman maire]

So, there is no tricks or special tools for drilling spot welds?

[na2ub]

I drilled a bunch using the appropriate diameter drill bit. As soon as it got dull, I sharpend the tip with my dremel. Once you drill through, you can separate any remaing metal with a chisel. Air chisels help.

Better yet, there is a spot weld drill bit, that has a centering drill and a round cutting blade. I have not used one, but I hear its the way to go.

[herman maire]

Thanks for that,

I will look into that today.

[gwmac]

I had the same problem with my suspension pan replacement, ended up using an angle grinder with a very thin blade and grinding the welds sacrificing one side. as you grind the weld you can tell when you get through, the metal will turn blue as it gets very thin.
worked much better than the spot weld cutter i was using and no holes to fill in.

[rattlsnak]

yes, there are special tools and it makes the job MUCH easier.
see this: SG Tool Aid 18000 3/8 Rotary Spot Weld Cutter

I have never used that one, but I have a set from Snap-on. The center pin is spring loaded..

[s2911]

Harbour freight also has the spot weld drill bit for $4. i was surprised at how well it worked on my suspension pan removal and i didnt even have to flip it over to a new sharp edge once! Does drill the holes a little bigger than i would have like though.